Get the MacBook Neo Over the iPad But If You Already Have An iPad, Should You Get the Neo?

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I write a lot so it's great that I have the option of doing it on my MacBook Air, iPad, and the iPhone. Well, what if you already have an iPad. Should you get the MacBook Neo? The iPad is a vastly different tablet after the release of iPadOS 26 with more features like a window system and multitasking features that are traditionally available only on the MacBooks. This was only the reasons why I decided to get a new iPad Air last year. But suppose I do not have a MacBook. Should I get the Neo even though I already have an iPad?

This is an issue that I have not seen a lot of reviewers, Apple blogs, or anyone really address.  I want to focus exclusively on use cases and not the cost though that is something that each of us will have to consider on an individual basis.  I opened this article about writing. Before the Magic Keyboard and the support of bluetooth keyboards, I was writing on the screen of the iPad using the virtual keyboard. I did a lot of that and I still do it from time to time. The iPad, however you type on it, is a very capable device for writing. I writing for this blog, my own stories, and journals. The iPad is great and I am sure the MacBook Neo would get just as terrific as any other MacBooks. 

What about uses like photo and video editing? Let's take photo editing. I find myself going to the iPad for photo editing and management as well as doing any other kind of manipulation on the iPad much more than the MacBook. Perhaps it is because of my amateur level of photo editing skills and needs and the iPad's big library of available apps in the App Store makes it all that much easier for someone like me. However, that is the same for video editing. I mainly use iMovie and it works great for me on the Mac. I have tried it on the iPad and I found the experience a lot easier and intuitive on the Mac than on the iPad. 

One thing that does work on the iPad's favor is the Apple Pencil. For drawing and editing, using the pencil does provide better precision than using the trackpad. For a lot of tasks, having a pencil feel more natural. Taking manipulating a 3D object. With Blender in its way to the iPad, I just see myself enjoying creating 3D artwork on the iPad more than on the Mac. I know people who have used a mouse to create create artwork and hats off to those folks. However, for someone who can not draw well, using a mouse simply makes it worse. So, for use cases where Apple Pencil works better than the trackpad or mouse, a Macbook Neo is not going to help you or me.

For gaming, it depends in the type of game. There are just some games now that works better on the MacBook Neo because of the physical keyboard and some that are better because of the touchscreen on the iPad and the games designed to take advantage of using your fingers to manipulate and control elements in the game. It also comes down to the available of the library of games you are most likely to play. Apple has been doing a better than its traditional half-hearted attempts in gaming on the Mac, I do wonder if some of the AAA games that Apple has been pushing will work on the MacBook Neo since Apple makes a big deal about them working on the Mac and iPads with M series chips. And as you know by now, the MacBook Neo runs on an iPhone chip. It would be a blunder if these games work on the iPad but not on the Neo.

Finally, we come to another use. Coding. The MacBook Neo can run Xcode. Both the Neo and iPad can run Playgrounds. However, Playgrounds does not do much other than teach those who are interested in coding some rudimentary lessons on how coding works. This does not come close. You will absolutely need to get the MacBook Neo. 

So, if you already have an iPad, you already have a very capable computer, not to mention a tablet. The iPadOS has all the tools you need if you need some basic functions of a laptop. Then it comes down to your needs. Personal preferences like your workflow, whether you care about having a keyboard or not, you like to use a mouse/trackpad or Apple Pencil are important but it comes down to what your iPad can do but you can do better on the MacBook Neo. And in the use cases like coding where you have to go with a Neo or where the iPad fall short, your decision becomes clearer. 

As I said in the title, if you are deciding whether you should get a MacBook Noe or iPad, I would get the MacBook Neo. But if you already have an iPad, it comes down to what you want to do with the Neo that your iPad cannot do or because there are MacOS advantages over the iPadOS that you need.

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